Antidepressants Prove Addictive to Some

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  • O-ren Ishii
    O-ren Ishii Posts: 57
    suffragette wrote:
    We now have a generation of mi consumers shaking away because of the wonder drugs Haldol and Thorazine. How do we know those who took Prozac (me included) will not develop something like that in the future?

    There are never guarantees. That's the nature of medicine. It's a matter of weighing the potential risks with the impact that one's mental illness is having on his/her life. That's ultimately a decision between patient and physician.
    MI drugs are often used for the wrong reasons and prescribed by family doctors, not psychiatrists. For that reason, people are taking drugs that they shouldn't be taking. Remember how Prozac was prescribed for shyness?

    I could not agree more. I don't think that anyone but psychiatrists should be able to prescribe psychotropics, but this is unrealistic given the crappy coverage that most people have for mental health care. Perhaps I would go so far as to say that only psychiatrists should be able to start patients on the meds. Once they're set, then PCPs can maintain them.
    shiraz wrote:
    You just took the words out of my mouth.

    Hey, thanks!
    We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality. - Ayn Rand
  • shiraz
    shiraz Posts: 528
    suffragette wrote:
    I agree. But people with mental illness are often treated as guinea pigs for meds, whereas those with "real" (sarcasm intended) illnesses are not.

    We now have a generation of mi consumers shaking away because of the wonder drugs Haldol and Thorazine. How do we know those who took Prozac (me included) will not develop something like that in the future?

    1. Don't know about the US, but in Israel most of Neuro-psychological drugs including Prozac can be given only via neurologist/psychologist/psychiatrist, hence the treatment is in both behavioral & medicinal level. That decision mainly resolved out of the "addiction factor" of these drugs.

    2. Like any other drug, Neuro-psychological drugs are being extremely investigated, examined & tested on model-animals & humans (healthy and "sick") before being marketting to the public. However, so far there hasn't been enough info about long-term-use effects of these drugs, as well as other "regular" chronic-used drugs .

    3. I think eventually, the person who considers to take the drug has to have some responsibility for his decisions.
  • suffragette
    suffragette Posts: 253
    I definitely agree with the idea of personal responsibility, but a lot of mh consumers have been forced into institutions and given drugs. They initially had no choice. Many I have encountered who went thru that really have no clue about personal responsibility because they're still angry over that initial event. It is a truly life-altering one and it puts the individual into a very passive position, which "the system" only encourages. Still, some get past their anger and take small steps toward recovery, which itself involves tons of personal responsibility.
  • Karas
    Karas Posts: 68
    Heatherj43 wrote:
    I want to comment here too about addiction to anti-depressants. I have yet to hear of anyone getting "addicted" to anti-depressants.
    They don't have any properties that are addictive and there is not a high you get from them to make someone abuse them.
    Many people NEED these types of medications. I do think docs put people on them for too long of a time, but if given on a short term basis to people with depression, while conjointly doing therapy, in abut 6-9 months there is improvement.

    Do you think there is a lack of focus on the therapy portion of the road to recovery ??

    I have a cousin who is 15 and she has been put on paxil, and she has gone to therapy, but I dont think she wants to get "better" ...she's 15...shes unhappy. wants to stay that way..I've been there myself.. But if a person truly wants to get better I feel like the therapy portion is really tackling the problem...Though I understand that medication definatley helps...
    I scream in affirmation
    of connecting dislocations
    and exceeding limitations
    by achieving levitation
  • shiraz
    shiraz Posts: 528
    suffragette wrote:
    I definitely agree with the idea of personal responsibility, but a lot of mh consumers have been forced into institutions and given drugs. They initially had no choice. Many I have encountered who went thru that really have no clue about personal responsibility because they're still angry over that initial event. It is a truly life-altering one and it puts the individual into a very passive position, which "the system" only encourages. Still, some get past their anger and take small steps toward recovery, which itself involves tons of personal responsibility.

    Is it that easy to have someone forced into an institution/take drugs? I mean, you sound as if it almost the first choice for someone with some mental problem, and I really hope this is not the case in the US.

    Either way, you got to remember for some patients there really is no other initial choice, but that doesn't mean they lost their self-responsibility from this stage and further on - anger or no anger (sorry, but from my point of view it sounds like an excuse or an attempt to blame only the others for their current situation).
  • PaperPlates
    PaperPlates Posts: 1,745
    they have a pill for everything these days. But can they fix stupid?
    Why go home

    www.myspace.com/jensvad
  • shiraz
    shiraz Posts: 528
    Karas wrote:
    Do you think there is a lack of focus on the therapy portion of the road to recovery ??

    I have a cousin who is 15 and she has been put on paxil, and she has gone to therapy, but I dont think she wants to get "better" ...she's 15...shes unhappy. wants to stay that way..I've been there myself.. But if a person truly wants to get better I feel like the therapy portion is really tackling the problem...Though I understand that medication definatley helps...

    Wait a minute, SSRI drugs are given that easily for patients under 18 years old in the US?!? Please tell me only a specialist is allowed to prescribe it as a part of a behavioral therapy...
  • Heatherj43
    Heatherj43 Posts: 1,254
    Karas wrote:
    Do you think there is a lack of focus on the therapy portion of the road to recovery ??

    I have a cousin who is 15 and she has been put on paxil, and she has gone to therapy, but I dont think she wants to get "better" ...she's 15...shes unhappy. wants to stay that way..I've been there myself.. But if a person truly wants to get better I feel like the therapy portion is really tackling the problem...Though I understand that medication definatley helps...
    Yes I do think the therapy part is too often overlooked. I also have big problems with regular physicians prescribing psychtropic meds. They don't insist on conjoint therapy with it and also keep patients on the drugs too long. Many psychiatrist do that to though.
    It is my opinion that mental health care worldwide is poor. In theory it should be better than it is. The information and proper way to treat is pretty well known but the money isn't available to execute the proper care.
    I am hoping that time and demand will force it to improve.
    Save room for dessert!
  • Heatherj43
    Heatherj43 Posts: 1,254
    shiraz wrote:
    Wait a minute, SSRI drugs are given that easily for patients under 18 years old in the US?!? Please tell me only a specialist is allowed to prescribe it as a part of a behavioral therapy...
    Family doctors will prescribe these drugs too. Mostly because health insurances usually won't pay enough to see a psychiatrist.
    Save room for dessert!
  • shiraz
    shiraz Posts: 528
    Heatherj43 wrote:
    Family doctors will prescribe these drugs too. Mostly because health insurances usually won't pay enough to see a psychiatrist.

    :( :( :(

    This is SO wrong.
  • suffragette
    suffragette Posts: 253
    shiraz wrote:
    Is it that easy to have someone forced into an institution/take drugs? I mean, you sound as if it almost the first choice for someone with some mental problem, and I really hope this is not the case in the US.


    Where I live, in PA, there is a 3 strikes policy. You end up in the psych unit a third time, you are shipped north, to the state mental hospital. I live in a small rural community, controlled by one provider, and consumers are known here and have been treated this way for years. It's called 302ing.

    I know that most of us don't have difficulty with the concept of personal responsibility. But many consumers do. Their lives have been controlled for so long that it is easy for them to keep handing over the reins to those who are "taking care" of them.

    I was never 302ed, but I work trying to help those who were. Self-empowement can be nurtured, but it is a hard, depressing, up hill battle. And the system has all the money, and continues making that money, by controlling people.
  • shiraz
    shiraz Posts: 528
    suffragette wrote:
    shiraz wrote:
    Is it that easy to have someone forced into an institution/take drugs? I mean, you sound as if it almost the first choice for someone with some mental problem, and I really hope this is not the case in the US.


    Where I live, in PA, there is a 3 strikes policy. You end up in the psych unit a third time, you are shipped north, to the state mental hospital. I live in a small rural community, controlled by one provider, and consumers are known here and have been treated this way for years. It's called 302ing.

    I know that most of us don't have difficulty with the concept of personal responsibility. But many consumers do. Their lives have been controlled for so long that it is easy for them to keep handing over the reins to those who are "taking care" of them.

    I was never 302ed, but I work trying to help those who were. Self-empowement can be nurtured, but it is a hard, depressing, up hill battle. And the system has all the money, and continues making that money, by controlling people.

    3 strikes of what, suicide attempts? suicide threats? nervous breakdowns? severe depression? minor depression? addictions? You know, my first impression of what you've told me is the system which is being used against criminals in some parts of the US, and that's not a good thing when one comes to deal with patients.

    Each patient is different, each case is different, hence there shouldn't be such uniform rules for everybody. Either way, the "system" itself need to support, stabilize, provide tools for self-control and gradually prepare the patients to deal on their own with the real world outside. I don't get it, what's in it for the "system" to act differently? after all, we're not talking about private hospitals, so the govt is paying for the whole thing. What are they getting out of extra patients = extra expenses?
  • suffragette
    suffragette Posts: 253
    Well, for one big thing, after the consumer gets out of the hospital, he/she needs a place to live. How about a county-owned group home? Consumers pay to live in those places. That money comes from medicaid. Then there's aftercare, which the consumer also pays for out of medicaid. Mental illness is big money. Recovery takes consumers out of that loop. That is why "the system" is dragging its feet regarding providing recovery-oriented services.

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